‘Flawed’ Last Click Attribution Still Dominates Display Retargeting

Half of marketers revealed that they are still overwhelmingly comfortable with last-click attribution in new research from programmatic ad solution myThings.

Only 37% of the study’s respondents were found to be using a multi-attribution model. There was a small beacon of hope for commissioning reform however, as 13% shared that they had plans to switch away from last click in 2014.

Given the high proportion of marketers who used last-click attribution for retargeting, many could have expected them to be content with their choice. That is not the case, as finding a proper attribution model was considered the key pain of the programmatic ad space.

Confidence is key

Marketers are not yet confident enough to jump head first into multi attribution because of how intricate it can be, according to myThings CEO Benny Arbel.

"With search and affiliate marketing setting the digital standard, last click is still dominating,” Arpel said. “Marketers know its flawed but they're hesitant to try a different approach because of the complexity of multi-attribution and the fact that it's non-standardised.”

“I believe that multi-attribution will eventually gain traction as more insights are being extracted from big data and shared with marketers, and when a clear standard and tools to implement it are in place."

Data failings

One other issue causing the sector grief is the march towards cross-channel marketing. Ad tech companies should heed the fact that 31% listed cross-device as the insights they most needed from retargeting providers.

With Apple recently announcing more collaboration between its devices, courtesy of the handoff feature in iOS 8 and OS X Yosemite, Arbel also believes there will be an even larger focus on multichannel.

“Apple’s continuity between Mac, iPad, and iPhone demonstrates the importance of cross-device communication which is a key element for advertisers,” Arbel said.

“Advertisers need to be able to reach consumers and have ‘continuity’ among all devices since consumers today are on multiple devices all the time – targeting a consumer who has a full, unpurchased shopping cart on their iPad may need to be retargeted on a mobile device.”

Overall, though, the retargeting space is in good shape. A healthy 32% of the 100 North American and European e-commerce marketers that contributed to the research will increase retargeting budget in 2014, while 36% will keep it unchanged.

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Simon Holland

Simon is the news and research reporter at Existem. Previously a technology journalist, he now spends his time investigating both future and developing trends in performance marketing whilst producing editorial content for performancein.com.